Slough Town
1
Dobson (pen 5)
Concord Rangers
0
League
Attendance: 683
Lee Togwell
James Dobson’s early spot kick proved decisive as Slough claimed a narrow win and moved up into eighth place in the National League South table.
This was a match with very few chances, but crucially the Rebels took theirs when it arrived.
That moment came after just five minutes when Mathew Stevens was played into the box by a flick-on from strike partner Chris Flood and instead of guiding him away from goal, Tyrone Sterling shoved him to the ground, giving referee Mark Howes a decision to make. He pointed to the spot and up stepped Dobson to give Slough an early lead.
Concord had a brilliant chance to equalise ten minutes later as a great free kick was put into the box by Danny Green, finding Sam Blackman in acres of space but with Jack Turner beaten, he could only head his effort onto the post when it looked easier to score.
Rangers goalkeeper Sam Beasant - son of ex-Wimbledon keeper Dave - took too long with one of his clearances with Stevens able to block, but saw the ball flew wide of the goal. Beasant inadvertently caught Stevens in the face with a boot, temporarily forcing the Slough striker off the pitch as his facial wound was cleared up.
Just before the half hour mark, Dobson saw a free kick dealt with by the Concord defence, and then the ball fell kindly to Sam Togwell on the edge of the box, but his shot was easily blocked.
Slough’s goal scorer Dobson picked up a knock a few minutes later and was shown a yellow card in the aftermath before being substituted shortly after. Simon Dunn replaced him and slotted into the left midfield berth.
Late in the half, Concord failed to completely clear a Scott Davies corner and after Lee Togwell tried to recycle the ball back into the middle, the ball fell for Mark Nisbet whose effort was blocked in the goalmouth.
Then, with a minute remaining in the first period, Green whipped in another super cross which was headed just wide.
The second half started well for Slough, who won an early corner which was initially flicked on by Nisbet before Stevens got his head to it – but couldn’t guide it toward goal.
With an hour gone the best chance of the second half fell very fortuitously to Slough. Concord looked to clear a corner but the ball struck the referee and rebounded back into the box. Stevens reacted quickest but his shot was well blocked by Beasant, who could only parry as far as Lee Togwell, but his effort was also easily blocked.
Slough made further changes as they looked to hold onto all three points, introducing Guy Hollis to replace Stevens late on, and ran the clock down in the corner where possible – but the home side should really have extended their lead deep into stoppage time as Warren Harris got the better of Michael Clark but was denied by a combination of Beasant and a tackle from Clark, who got back well.
It certainly wasn’t a classic, but after three league games without a win, Neil Baker and Jon Underwood will be happy to have claimed all three points against a side which started the day in the top five.
This was a match with very few chances, but crucially the Rebels took theirs when it arrived.
That moment came after just five minutes when Mathew Stevens was played into the box by a flick-on from strike partner Chris Flood and instead of guiding him away from goal, Tyrone Sterling shoved him to the ground, giving referee Mark Howes a decision to make. He pointed to the spot and up stepped Dobson to give Slough an early lead.
Concord had a brilliant chance to equalise ten minutes later as a great free kick was put into the box by Danny Green, finding Sam Blackman in acres of space but with Jack Turner beaten, he could only head his effort onto the post when it looked easier to score.
Rangers goalkeeper Sam Beasant - son of ex-Wimbledon keeper Dave - took too long with one of his clearances with Stevens able to block, but saw the ball flew wide of the goal. Beasant inadvertently caught Stevens in the face with a boot, temporarily forcing the Slough striker off the pitch as his facial wound was cleared up.
Just before the half hour mark, Dobson saw a free kick dealt with by the Concord defence, and then the ball fell kindly to Sam Togwell on the edge of the box, but his shot was easily blocked.
Slough’s goal scorer Dobson picked up a knock a few minutes later and was shown a yellow card in the aftermath before being substituted shortly after. Simon Dunn replaced him and slotted into the left midfield berth.
Late in the half, Concord failed to completely clear a Scott Davies corner and after Lee Togwell tried to recycle the ball back into the middle, the ball fell for Mark Nisbet whose effort was blocked in the goalmouth.
Then, with a minute remaining in the first period, Green whipped in another super cross which was headed just wide.
The second half started well for Slough, who won an early corner which was initially flicked on by Nisbet before Stevens got his head to it – but couldn’t guide it toward goal.
With an hour gone the best chance of the second half fell very fortuitously to Slough. Concord looked to clear a corner but the ball struck the referee and rebounded back into the box. Stevens reacted quickest but his shot was well blocked by Beasant, who could only parry as far as Lee Togwell, but his effort was also easily blocked.
Slough made further changes as they looked to hold onto all three points, introducing Guy Hollis to replace Stevens late on, and ran the clock down in the corner where possible – but the home side should really have extended their lead deep into stoppage time as Warren Harris got the better of Michael Clark but was denied by a combination of Beasant and a tackle from Clark, who got back well.
It certainly wasn’t a classic, but after three league games without a win, Neil Baker and Jon Underwood will be happy to have claimed all three points against a side which started the day in the top five.
Slough Town Lineup
- 1 Jack Turner
- 2 Sean Fraser
- 3 Josh Jackman
- 4 Sam Togwell
- 5 Mark Nisbet
- 6 Lee Togwell
- 7 James Dobson 15
- 8 Scott Davies
- 9 Chris Flood 18
- 10 Mathew Stevens 12
- 11 Warren Harris
Substitutes
- 12 Guy Hollis 10
- 14 George Wells
- 15 Simon Dunn 7
- 16 Louie Soares
- 18 Ben Harris 9
Concord Rangers Lineup
Sam Beasant, Tosan Popo (Cameron Harris 88), Sammy Knott (Aron Pollock 77), Michael Clark, Lee Minshull, Tyrone Sterling, Danny Green, Sam Blackman, Liam Nash, Jack Midson, Ahmed Abdullah. Unused substitutes: Adam Topley, Kiah Froud, Josh Glover.